Hmmm...

So, this week will have no post for CotW since the east coast had a blizzard and my film is stuck in Richmond or Fredericksburg. So, hopefully I'll have 2 posts for next week. My Holga film is here and ready to be developed when the snow melts. :)

In the meantime, a view from my porch...

It's Been So Long..

...that I actually had a "Welcome back to Flickr" comment on one of my pictures. Has it really been that long? Apparently, 6 months or so. Wow. It's amazing how things fall through the cracks when life gets crazy.

I've still been working (albeit slowly) on the "Impressions Through a Pinhole" book. My motivation ebbs and flows, which is to be expected in any creative endeavor. I have rolls of film just waiting to be scanned! In time, in time...

With this new year, I've decided to "share the love" with all my various toys. It seems I have cameras (and "toy lenses") I've completely forgotten about! So, I've written all of their names (including the Lensbaby & Pinhole Bodycap) on small slips of paper that I will pick out weekly. The goal is to use only that camera for the week and shoot at least 1 roll of film.

That should mean I should have at least 1 blog post a week, too. Just in case you missed me!

My Heart is Broken...

As I was making the daily trek to Fredericksburg this morning, I saw a heart-breaking sight....

Someone stop me now...

Yes, I bought another camera...

Yesterday, while waiting to pick up Alexis from school, I took a little stroll downtown Fredericksburg. Anyone that's been downtown knows that it is not short of antique stores. Not being one for antiques, I never have gone in any of them. Well, after reading blogs of people that go out to these strange stores and find great deals on old/weird/fun/cool cameras, I had to try it myself. Well, the second store that I went into had an entire case full of old Kodak cameras (brownies, instamatics, etc) as cheap as $3 each and were in great condition. Well, I'm really not into buying cameras when the film is nearly impossible to find (i.e. 620, 126, 127, 110), so I passed them all up. Well, there was this one very oddly named camera that looked like a very small SLR. So, I asked to see it. It was, in fact, a 35mm plastic camera called a Yunon YN500 from Taiwan. I've never heard of one and I've not found any good info online. Well, this one is perfectly clean, with strap, case, & instructions. The coolest thing about it is that there are 4 apertures on the lens with the pretty pictures (clouds, partial clouds, "shiny", bright sun) that correspond to the following numbers on the other side of the lens (6,8,11,16). There is only one shutter speed, however, and no bulb. There was already a roll a film in it that I can't wait to finish and see what surprises this holds. Oh, and it was only $6.40 after the 20% Valentine's sale! :)

Isn't she a beauty???

Took the Kids for a Walk...

No, not the human kid. And not the doggie kids, either. The fantastic plastic (and cardboard) toy cameras were out in the nice weather today. I headed to the Fredericksburg Battlefield & Cemetery because it has lots of walking space and incredible trees and hills. I actually shot 5 rolls of film. Of course, that's not too difficult since the Holga WPC only takes 6 images per roll. But, I did forget to wind the film correctly in it, so maybe in a few days I'll have another happy accident. Here are my babies, posing for the camera phone on the Sunken Road wall! :)

Storms and Tornadoes, Oh My...

All day had been one of those dark and rainy days. But, then there were these beautiful snippets of bright warm sun. Very warm for a mid-November day. Then there was the threat of severe storms and tornadoes... And I had an (almost) five year old to get to a "very important" birthday party. Well, we braved the threat and on the way, I captured this beauty from the car...

Hello from Florida!

Well, my husband and I made a 15 hour drive in our tiny Honda Civic Hybrid from King George, VA to lovely St Pete Beach, FL yesterday. Not a vacation. Well a working vacation. OK. We have started a software business and have come down here for the IACA training conference as a vendor. So, as I sit here behind the booth while my husband works his magic, I blog. While I haven't been able to really go out shooting, we did arrive yesterday right before sunset. And, as if nature new I needed something after a sleepless night of driving, she threw in a few storms over the setting sun and the Gulf of Mexico.

The Apple Harvest

Well I've harvested the apples from the famous apple tree today. It may be a bit early for them, but the black spots were steadily growing on some of them. And I really wanted to taste one!! They were tart, but I suppose if I wanted sweet apples, I would not have planted a Granny Smith. My daughter and I ate 4 of them, but, of course, they were pretty small. There are 3 left on the counter and I'm sure they will be gone tomorrow. Check out the slideshow of the apples from itty bitty, to this...

Death of the Countryside

Well, the McMansions are coming. There is this beautiful farm (I believe it was called the Springfield farm) on the way to Fredericksburg from King George that was sold to a developer (the one, I believe, who owns most of F'burg now). It's been sold now for a couple of years. I knew it was happening when the cows disappeared from the hillside. But, this is the first sign of construction, I've seen. The corn has been nearly cleared from the field and the roads are beginning to appear. When the developments come, it truly is the death of the country....

Yellow Flowers and Rocks

Took a walk down the pond at the end of our street. Didn't have a long lens to capture the beautiful lilies floating in it, but I did get this nice image of the yellow poppies (?) someone planted in the rocks. I took this with the Nikon Coolpix s600 macro feature. Love that thing!

On the Road Again

Living out in the country has it's benefits. Quiet (no car traffic), DARK nights full of stars and the sounds of crickets. No homeowner associations saying your flowers aren't pruned correctly. Au Natural, baby. Neighbors I can't see!! But, then again, to get ANYWHERE we need to drive 30 minutes. So, I see a lot on my trips between King George and Fredericksburg. I see lots of corn, soybeans, barns, corn, soybeans, barns, old Virginia Renaissance Faire (I need to get in there and make some pictures), corn and soybeans. But, the one thing I look forward to EVERY time I make this trip is this one particular barn that I have photographed many, many times. I actually stop once in awhile, too. And I have a flickr set dedicated to it. Here is the "fly by" version I snapped today.

A present from the squirrels...

I suppose I should go out and thank the squirrels for our wonderful garden this year. Not only did we have sunflowers popping up all over the yard, but we have discovered that they have also planted us a pumpkin vine. And since we have quite a woody/brushy property, it went unnoticed for quite a while. While out throwing a ball for my dog, Moose, I saw a bright yellow-orange flower in the brushy part of the back yard. I went out to inspect it and sure enough, a flower, on a HUGE vine. The leaves are larger than a small child's head (at least my small child's head). So, I headed in for the cameras and came out with this...

Huge Mushrooms

I have these mushrooms that grow in my yard. They are really big mushrooms measuring over 9" across (yes, I measured them). I even make my husband mow around them (he thinks I'm crazy). I got down on the ground with the ants (maybe I am crazy) and took some pictures of them with the Coolpix macro feature. I'm hoping for a "faerie ring" soon!

I'm home

Just back from a nice relaxing week at my parents' house. They live way out in the country just 10 minutes from town! :) Seriously... It's quiet (you hear cows mooing a mile away), pitch dark at night (real stars to be seen!) and I can get to a good coffee shop in just 10 minutes. Oh, and I get free babysitting and don't have to get out of bed until noon!

Took this from the road... waaaay out in the country.

Casablanca Lily

If you ever checkout my flickr stream, you will see a lot of these lilies. They are blooming all over the garden. Finally, a year when the voles and the boring beetles have not destroyed them all. We only lost 2 this year. The picture of the day...